Gloucester's Taylor Distefano plays through the pain

She lay motionless at home plate, the shooting pain in her legs having given way to numbness. Then she realized she was crying. "This is so embarrassing," she sobbed.

Standing a few feet away at the fence of their dugout, Taylor Distefano's teammates broke into laughter. A couple of minutes later, she was on her feet with an ice pack on her lower back. She was replaced in right field the next inning, but she was fine. Or as fine as she can be.

Distefano, Gloucester's junior pitcher-turned-outfielder, has scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine. Doctors detected it when she was in the fourth grade, at which point she was playing ice hockey. It didn't stop her from winning 33 of 38 decisions in her first two years as the Dukes' primary pitcher.

But against Menchville on March 25, the pain from all that goes into a pitcher's windup became too severe. She went to right field, and Makayla Jenkins took over on the rubber. Distefano tried to throw four days later against Kecoughtan, but she couldn't. Just too much motion, too much strain on her back.

"I feel like an old lady," she said with a laugh. "A 17-year-old in a 40-year-old body."

So Distefano, Gloucester's next great pitcher, is now a right fielder. And the same kid who was pinch hit for as a freshman is hitting .463 with 14 RBI. In Tuesday's 7-0 win over Menchville, the same day she was hurt at the plate, she went 3-for-3 and scored twice.

It's not the role Distefano (pronounced da-STEF-ano) wants. But she knows it's this or nothing.

"She hasn't said a whole lot to me about it, but I know she's disappointed," Gloucester coach Red Lindsay said. "However, I also know she's a team player and wants what's best for the team.

"I'm sure she lies to me sometimes and tells me she's fine. I've told her when she can't go to tell me. I wouldn't let her go until her mom told me she was OK."

Scoliosis is two times more likely to affect girls than boys. In most cases, there's little or no pain. But in Distefano's case, sometimes the abnormal curvature puts pressure on the nerves in her lower back.

"I go through spurts of no pain for months at a time, but almost once a year it picks up and I'll be immobile for a couple of weeks," she said. "Last year, right before softball season, I was in gym class and I collapsed to the ground and couldn't move. At certain times, it's so painful."

She still has her sense of humor.

"The whole right side of my body is bigger because of the scoliosis," she said. "And everybody makes fun of the way I walk because my butt sticks out."

When originally diagnosed, Distefano said the curvature was measured at 12 degrees. Now, it's 30. Her doctors have told her there's no need for a brace or surgery, but they're monitoring it.

As luck would have it, Distefano's mother, Patti, is a physical therapist. One of the rooms in their home is now a therapy/workout room.

"I do as much as I can, and as much as teenagers will listen to their parents," Patti said. "I try to give her advice on stretches and exercises."

Distefano applies heat to her back before practice and ice when she gets home. She takes Ibuprofen and, occasionally, muscle relaxers. Some days that's enough. Others require toughing it out.

"It hurts doing anything, but I don't want to not play," she said. "Back pain isn't fun at all."

It certainly wasn't fun Tuesday. But the following day, she was ready to laugh about it.

Before practice, Lindsay and assistant Jason Burns took a cup of lime and outlined a body's figure near home plate. Practice was 15 minutes old before Distefano noticed. She cracked up.

An A-plus student who hopes to be a lawyer, Distefano is determined to finish out the season and then get some rest. Which means no travel ball in the summer. As for pitching, she hopes she'll be healthy enough to at least throw some innings next season.

"I hate not pitching," she said. "I've been doing it since I was 7 years old. Makayla's doing great, and I'm proud of her.

"I'm just hoping with some rest I'll be OK next year. And then, hopefully my senior year, I can finish strong."